After the release of DmC: Devil May Cry, Capcom has a handful of games lined up for the near future. At a San Francisco event this week, I had a chance to check them out. Out of the handful of… Continue Reading →

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After the release of DmC: Devil May Cry, Capcom has a handful of games lined up for the near future. At a San Francisco event this week, I had a chance to check them out. Out of the handful of games there, Remember Me stood out. The rest were were ports of older games and or rerun remixes. That’s not to say that they were bad, but the Japanese company has a history of making incremental improvements to games and repackaging it as a full-priced edition.
Nevertheless, here’s a roundup of what I played and quick thoughts on them.
The game's high-definition graphics shine. You can especially see the detail in the armor.Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate -- I saw this game a few weeks ago and this is more of a progress report. This Super Turbo edition entry of Monster Hunter Tri still looks gorgeous on the high-definition Wii U and the demo I played showed off how well the game plays between the console and Nintendo 3DS. It’s flawless, and the interconnectivity between the platforms opens up the multiplayer, which is the core of the game, to more people.
My group hunted a Jade Barroth and it was as difficult as you can imagine. The issue that made it frustrating was that on this high-level quest, my partners were split up on a map we didn't know, and we had to deal with a random Deviljho that would interrupt our hunts. We had to get rid of it with a stink bomb.
As I mentioned before, Nintendo 3DS players can connect locally with the Wii U and play together, but there’s no mixture of online and local play. The Wii U is the only system that lets you play via the Internet. The good thing is that there is voice chat support through the Wii U GamePad. This may be the first entry where everything aligns for online play. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate comes out on March 19.
Don't adjust your monitor. The game actually looks smoothed out like that. It's one of the filters you can choose from.Darkstalkers Resurrection -- For some reason, I have a feeling that this is just a precursor to a Darkstalkersreboot. Capcom did it before with its flagship fighting game before the launch of Street Fighter IV. This edition of the fighting game combines two games in the series:Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge and Darkstalkers 3.
This version boasts GGPO code that will help reduce lag during online play. There’s also improved matchmaking so that players can battle someone at their skill level. The third feature that’s available to both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 is the ability to record replays and upload them to YouTube with improved compression.
There are some unlocks for the over-the-shoulder that will change the artwork on the arcade cabinet.
The two fighting games are arcade perfect for the most part and the visual improvements are accomplished via different views for the screen. Players can experiment with filters that offer a 4:3 ratio view, one that mimics an old CRT monitor and an over-the-shoulder perspective that shows the arcade cabinet itself. There’s the option to introduce scan lines on the characters or make them look like a water cooler through a smooth filter. The bottom line: Although there’s no high-definition sprites in the gameplay, the old-school ones have a charm to them, but they’re not easy on the eyes.
The only new pieces added to Darkstalker Resurrection is the menu artwork and music. For experts, the main draw aside from the online play would be to perform different in-game tasks that earn vault points, which you can spend unlocking artwork and extras. Personally, I played a few matches and I liked the feel of Darkstalkers 3 with it's one continuous match rule. The downloadable game will be released on March 12 on PlayStation Network and March 13 on Xbox Live Arcade. It will sell for $14.99 or 1200 Microsoft points.
Jill is running away from some of the new monsters in Resident Evil: RevelationsResident Evil: Revelations -- I didn’t realize it when I played it last year on the Nintendo 3DS, but this is my favorite Resident Evilgame to come out in years. The reason for that is its old-school gameplay. Although it came out on a modern system, it eschewed the more action-inspired elements of its contemporaries.
Revelations plays like the classic survival-horror game, and now fans get to play it on consoles. It will stay essentially the same except for the addition of a new enemy and unlockable costumes. The most noticeable upgrade is that the visuals are improved. The developers took the models from the handheld version's cut scenes and imported them while improving the textures in the console versions. The result is a beautiful game that almost stands up to the visual work in Resident Evil 6.
There are some genuine scares in Revelations and moments when you just dread walking through a room.
But as I mentioned before, Revelations has elements of nostalgia for longtime fans of the series. Ammo is somewhat scarce. Players will encounter random puzzles that make no sense. The pacing is slow and methodical, and there’s that load time between rooms (though Capcom says that’ll be fixed in the final version). This is experience that fans are looking for if they don’t care for the new direction of the franchise.
Revelations is scheduled for release on Wii U, PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on May 21.
Images courtesy of Capcom
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]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2013/02/15/a-roundup-of-upcoming-capcom-games/feed/0Sand Barioth_WiiU_M_003Baleful Gigginox_WiiU_M_003Darkstalkers Resurrection 2-14 Screens 06 (Night Warriors)Darkstalkers Resurrection 2-14 Screens 08 (Night Warriors)ep4_1_014ep4_1_006By: TwitterButtons.comCapcom brings back Darkstalkers franchisehttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2012/10/11/capcom-brings-back-darkstalkers-franchise/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2012/10/11/capcom-brings-back-darkstalkers-franchise/#commentsThu, 11 Oct 2012 23:10:07 +0000Gieson Cachohttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/?p=24988

Can lightning strike twice? Capcom had a huge hit when it brought back its Street Fighter series and now the Japanese company is bringing back another fighting game from its arcade portfolio. Darkstalkers, arguably its second most popular franchise in… Continue Reading →

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Can lightning strike twice? Capcom had a huge hit when it brought back its Street Fighter series and now the Japanese company is bringing back another fighting game from its arcade portfolio. Darkstalkers, arguably its second most popular franchise in the genre, is returning to consoles in early 2013. But it isn't getting the Street Fighter IV treatment ... yet. Capcom is bringing back the monster-filled series as a downloadable game called Darkstalkers Resurrection.
Available on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade, the game will feature Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge and Darkstalkers 3. From the screenshots and a news release, it looks to be a port with boosted HD graphics, filters and standard fighting game modes such as a Challenge/Tutorial mode. In addition, this version will include GGPO-enabled online play and replays that can be uploaded to YouTube.
It's a good way for those who may have seen Morrigan Aensland and company in other games to see what the series is all about. The game will cost $14.99 or 1200 Microsoft Points.
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